Trying to think through the smartest way to launch Iron Wolf Land Clearing here in Northeast TX. I see two paths: Option A — Start Immediately (No CDL) • 3/4 ton or 1-ton pickup (F250/F350) • 14K dump or equipment trailer • ~8,500–10,500 lb skid steer • Forestry mulcher • Maybe a grapple / bucket Stay under CDL thresholds and start generating revenue fast. Option B — Get CDL First, Go Bigger • 1-ton dually or medium-duty truck • 20K+ gooseneck trailer • Heavier skid steer / dedicated mulching machine • More attachments / higher production capacity Bigger jobs, more capacity — but slower to start. For those already doing this: If you were starting over… which route would you take? And what specific setup (truck, trailer, machine, attachments) would you recommend for each path? Appreciate any insight — trying to make a smart move, not just a fast one 🤝

So this season is going gang busters. I now have over $100k of jobs on the books and my schedule is full almost to the end of June. Today I did another 10 estimate appointments, have another 10 next Friday, another 6 the Friday after that and another 10 leads I'm still chasing down and more coming in each day! For all of today's estimates I had to tell them I was booking new jobs in June. I booked 8 of those jobs with the other 2 being strong maybes. When I told each of them that my first available dates were in June they were all a little shocked but were already sold on the work so it wasn't a deal killer. Here's my dilemma; when I do next week's estimates I'll be telling some of them that I'm booking new jobs in *JULY* which is 3+ months away. In the past I've observed that jobs booked out too far are subject to more cancellations when the time gets closer to the job date. I'm considering pausing my ads for a bit (or maybe reducing the daily spend from $50 down to $10 or something?) So, has anyone else run into this problem? Am I crazy to think about pausing/slowing the ads down for 4-6 weeks? Any other suggestions/opinions? Before you suggest it, I'm just not at a place where I feel like I could or even want to find/train/equip other employees. Being the boss that just drives ads & estimates is a future goal but not yet.

First let me say this: I'm outlining what I did. It's worked so far very well for me. You are welcome to take, steal, edit or completely ignore everything here. I'm sharing what I did and if it helps you in any way, excellent. My story in a nutshell. A couple decades in corporate America, IT manager (I was a nerd, now I manage nerds) plus I've run some side gigs that employed people. IT right now is pretty scary, everything will look different in the next few years and most of the jobs I'm qualified for will be taken by automation and AI so after a few months of research, I selected Forestry Mulching for the 2nd phase of my life. My plan is to own/manage and to hire out the operator positions. I'll learn how to operate for fun so it makes sense to me and I can 'talk operator talk' but I won't ever be more qualified than who I hired to do the job. Eventually I want to be at scale with several teams but for now I need to hire my first operator, which is the most important hire. They can make or break your start, which could make or break your business. For me they are going to do everything operational - help me walk jobs while I learn how to quote them, they will mobolize, handle all mulching activies, light maintenance, etc. They'll need a Class A CDL. They'll shoot video at the job site, take before/after photos of every job, read from scrips for ad content (I don't want to be on camera yet as I still have the corporate job). Intially I was requiring skid steer experience and forestry mulching / land management was a bonus. Now that I'm done this process and hired my 1st operator, next time I'm going to require land management and/or foresty mulching experience. I next had to figure out my requirements. Who we are looking for: Self starter, able to work alone Reliable and high integrity Complete daily paperwork Documentation for each job Willing to be on video - capture before and after photos daily, take video of operations, talk through scripts Safety minded

Question, what are you guys doing about Facebook ad comments? I’ve had two comments left. One was telling me to stop mulching I’m ruining the land. The other one was a competitor that absolutely cussed me up and down for forestry mulching. Have you guys ran into this before and can you turn comments off on your Facebook ads? It’s not a boosted post. It’s an actual ad we run through ad manager.

I've got a few jobs lined up, advertised before getting equipment, I have equipment and a way to get the machinery there. The only thing that is getting to me is what permits do I need, if any? Are there any limitations to what I do if I'm above a certain acreage?